Obamacare has already transformed Esther Redd’s health. Redd had been admitted to Mount Sinai Hospital seven times over six months, spending 24 days there for conditions ranging from kidney failure to high blood pressure and diabetes. Redd was singled out as a high-risk patient and assigned to one of 27 social workers focused on keeping patients out of the hospital. Mount Sinai said the program reduced admissions 43 percent and cut emergency room visits 54 percent. The decision to target high-risk patients is estimated to have saved $1.6 million in medical costs over a six-month period. Mount Sinai’s program is part of a nationwide effort on the part of hospitals to improve their patients’ health and bolster their bottom lines. “We are looking for the underlying reason that people are coming back to the hospital,” said Maria Basso Lipani, program director for Mount Sinai’s Preventable Admissions Care Team. “We really will do anything and everything.” Redd was assigned to Derrick Williams, a social worker [both are featured in a video, see link below]. Williams said, “Having to come here three times a week [for dialysis] and already having depression issues, having to raise a young child, having cardiac issues, side effects from medications, that’s a lot. I would try to tell Esther, ’you are my hero.’” Learn more